Consisting of 15 judges, this intermediate appellate court also decides disputes regarding EU law. This court was created in 1989 to alleviate delays in deciding cases because of an increased caseload. The court's jurisdiction is focused on competition cases and staff cases.

(CFI): A first instance tribunal attached to the Court of Justice of the European Communities ( European Court of Justice), which hears (amongst other things) appeals against the European Commission's competition law decisions. See http://curia.europa.eu/en/transitpage.htm.

Established by the Single European Act (SEA), and in operation since 1989.The Court of First Instance is responsible for certain categories of cases : administrative disputes in the European institutions, actions arising from competition rules and from 1994, all actions brought by private parties.

The Court of First Instance aims to strengthen the protection of individuals' interests by introducing a second tier of judicial authority, allowing the Court of Justice to concentrate on its basic task of ensuring the uniform interpretation and application of Community law. The CFI is the ordinary court for most direct actions, such as appeals against a decision, failure to act, damages, etc.

The Court the First Instance is the ordinary judge of all petitions, except those expressly allocated by law to another court. In addition, the Court of First Instance acts as a court of appeal for judgments given by the Justice of the Peace, except for judgments concerning petitions for an amount not exceeding â‚¬ 1,240 for which there is no appeal. In addition, certain special competences are assigned to this court, even if the value of the petition is less than â‚¬ 1,860.00, for example, petitions concerning the status of persons, family situation, the interests of minors, divorce ... The Court of First Instance is made up of several sections, called the Criminal Court the Youth Court and the Civil Court. Certain judges exercise special functions: judge of seizures, investigating judge and judge in chambers.

The Court of First Instance is one of two courts in the High Court (formerly known as the Supreme Court) structure in Hong Kong. The court has unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. Before 1997 it was known as the High Court of Justice.